Together
by ARSpunky
Summary: In the distance, he can hear the clunking sound of shoes being kicked off and most likely left in the hallway. Then, ever so softly, he hears footsteps as they make their way towards the bedroom.


Title: Together  
Pairing: Michael/Sara  
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff  
Word Count: approx. 2,000  
Summary: _Michael hears the sound of the front door open and close gently. His mind is suddenly on full alert and awake to his surroundings. In the distance, he can hear the clunking sound of shoes being kicked off and most likely left in the hallway. Then, ever so softly, he hears footsteps as they make their way towards the bedroom. _

Authors Note: A big, big thank you to Lizzie (AKA - LizParker6 & leuska). She is a wonderful beta and I'm very grateful she took the time out of her busy schedule to help me with this.

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**Together **

Thank God it's Friday,' Michael Scofield thinks as he leans his head against the wall behind him his back. Within moments, his eyes start to shut on their own accord, and he's actually annoyed when he feels the elevator finally coming to a stop on his floor.

It's been a long and eventful day and the short walk from the elevator to his condo suddenly seems too far and too difficult. As he walks through the bright corridor, he pulls his keys out of his jacket pocket and is sneaks inside before there is just the slightest chance of running into his sweet yet pesky next-door neighbor. The old woman that lives across the hall is as nice as they come, but she can talk for hours. And especially today, all Michael wants is to be inside and get rid of his work clothing as soon as possible.

Once behind the door and inside, Michael can feel the stresses of the day wash away. The small, cluttered apartment suddenly fills him with peace and warmth he didn't know he could feel from an apartment. Without making any stops, he walks straight into the bedroom, where he takes off his suit jacket and tie. A couple of years ago, he would have felt the need to immediately hang them in the closet, all straightened and neat, but now he simply lays them across the back of the large chair under the window before sitting on heavily sinking down onto the large comfortable bed in the middle of the room. After he removes his shoes and belt, he finally lays his head against the pillows. For a moment, he just takes a couple of deep breaths and enjoys the quite that is surrounding him.

Then he simply waits. The stress of his job has already melted away and all Michael wants now is to feels his true essence of home and peace walk into their bedroom and join him on the bed. After a few quite minutes, his mind at last begins to drift into a light, hazy dream world. Just as he's about to fall asleep, Michael hears the sound of the front door open and close gently. His mind is suddenly on full alert and awake to his surroundings. In the distance, he can hear the clunking sound of shoes being kicked off and most likely left in the hallway. Then, ever so softly, he hears footsteps as they make their way towards the bedroom. It takes a lot of effort for him to hold his smile, but for some reason, he wants Sara to think he's already asleep. After listening to some quite movements around the room, Michael finally feels what he has been waiting for all day. The mattress shifts just ever so slightly underneath another weight. Then, Sara nestles her head into the crook of his neck, her silky hair warming his chest. Her whole body lays flush against his side, and her hand rest softly on his stomach. For a moment, he thinks that he has succeeded in fooling her that he's asleep, but then he feels her lips brush against his jaw and her fingers stroke the exposed skin where his shirt has risen. Even over something as small as sleeping, no one can read Michael better than Sara.

For a couple of minutes, she doesn't say anything. She just lays there next to him and continues to kiss him silently, thoroughly, and softly rubs the remaining tension away - tension he didn't even know was left inside his tired limbs. Obviously, this day has taken more out of Michael then he originally thought. For a moment, all he wants is to pull Sara even closer to him and cry endlessly into her soft hair. Yet he doesn't. He stays strong and waits for her to speak first.

"I missed you today," whispers Sara softly into Michael's ear.

At first, Michael doesn't reply. He just puts his arms around her and kisses her forehead with a passion Michael possesses for her.

"Michael…please tell me what's bothering you," Sara asks in the same whispered tone yet with more seriousness this time.

"There's really nothing to talk about," Michael replies with a heavy sigh and a defeated voice as he turns to face her.

Neither says anything for a couple of moments, but Sara lays simply presses a couple of stronger kisses onto his face.

"Don't you ever just wish we could get away," Michael wishfully begins, "…just get on our boat and sail away to a place where no one knows us? We could stay there forever and simply be in our own world." He finishes with a hopeful sigh.

Sara doesn't say anything for a couple of seconds, but then in a quiet voice replies, "Sometimes, yes. But I also know we wouldn't want that in the long run. Sure, it would be nice for awhile, but I think the novelty would wear off pretty quickly and we would want back our friends, family and jobs here, back home, back in Chicago."

Even as she speaks the words, she knows she isn't talking about herself; she is talking about Michael and what she knows he would want for their future.

Michael shakes his head determinedly and in a hurried voice says, "No. No, I wouldn't get tired of just being somewhere alone. Not as long as you were with me."

Sara smiles knowingly a sweet smile and adds in a softer voice, "I know that, Michael. But it's not just that we've also talked about starting a family together, someday soon, and wouldn't you rather raise our children here? In the same schools and playgrounds we grew up in?"

From the soft smile on his face Sara knows she is slowly pulling Michael out of his sudden irrational thoughts. But as quickly as the smile appears is it gone again and she can see Michael's thoughts turning negative again.

"I'm just tired of the constant snide comments from some of the people at work. They all just look at me like I'm doing something wrong or like I'm just about to do something illegal," Michael says in a bitter tone.

"Michael, you need to ignore the people at work. They have nothing better to do then try to bring you down." Sara answers back rather strongly. She doesn't want to yell, but she needs Michael to see reason.

"But they're right, Sara," continues Michael in a miserable tone, ignoring her previous interruption. "I am an ex-convict, I am covered in tattoos and I do have a rap sheet as long as my arm. They have every right to not want to work with me," replies Michael suddenly crestfallen.

"Michael, if any of those guys you work with give you any trouble, it's simply because they are jealous of you and your work. You are an amazing engineer with tons of heart and a brilliant brain. Your boss knows to value that and they all know and envy it very much." Sara replies with conviction coating her voice.

Even though Michael would never openly admit to being the best, he won't deny that he is good at what he does.

After a few more moments for silence, Michael continues heavy-heartedly, "I don't really care what they say about me…it bothers me most when they talk about you guys."

"What do you mean?" asks Sara in a calm and understanding voice. "What do they say about us?"

"Sometime they bring up the conversation weather Lincoln is truly innocent or not. And they talk about LJ's troubled past and supposable hopeless future," Michael responds sadly. "I mean do you think they hear that from other people too and feel as guilty as I do."

"First of all, even if your brother and nephew heard comments like that I don't think either of them would care. Second of all, Michael, have you even taken a good look at your brother this past year? I have never met a man so full of life and happiness. He has a fresh start, his family by his side, and because of that he couldn't be happier. And LJ…he is just so happy to be given a second chance to re-connect with his father and have normal life, he wouldn't care what untrue comments other people have to say about him." Sara pleads to him with such certainty.

Sara pauses for a moment to let her words sink in before softly continuing, "Michael you gave them everything they wanted and they couldn't be more grateful to you."

Michael stays quiet and Sara knows there is more to his co-worker's hurtful comments then he said, so she continues is a shy sweet voice, "Well…I know I've never been as happy as I am right now. I have the man of my dreams and the family I have always wished for."

At this Michael looks down into Sara's warm eyes and cradles her cheek in his soft hand. "But honestly Sara, you could have any guy you want in Chicago. There are lots of guys out there with a lot less baggage and drama than me, someone that wouldn't have people questioning your choices and judgment. Someone like the man I was before Fox River."

His voice is full of such heartache and Sara wants nothing more than to get on that boat to nowhere, to a place where no one would ever be able to hurt him again. She wants to be able to give him the love and attention that he deserves, without others trying to bring him down.

"Michael I never met the man you were before Fox River and I never fell in love with him. I am madly in love with who you are today…tortured soul and all," Sara finishes as she tries to pour all the love she feels into her reassuring words.

And after thinking about it for a few moments, Michael finally acknowledges his defeat and softly kisses Sara on the lips. For a while they simply lay there in each other's arms, relishing in the feel of total peace and bliss.

"And what about Lincoln and LJ?" Sara asks in a teasing voice. "Your brother may have the ability to annoy me like no one else, but over time, I'd even start to miss them if we sailed away forever."

Michael's eyes soften and he simply wraps his arms tighter around Sara while she buries her head into his neck. Michael knows he would never really be able to leave Chicago behind and Sara knows this as well. He just needs a little reassurance from time to time that by staying he is doing the right thing for everyone. He also knows that he can put up with any irritating coworker, as long as he has his family at his side. And of course Sara knows what is going on inside his head, even when he doesn't quite understand it himself. She is the love of his life and the only person he ever truly lets inside the fortress surrounded by high walls he had carefully built up around himself.

"I love you so much, Sara, you know that, right?" Michael declares in a voice filled with emotion. "I don't know what I would ever do without you."

"I love you too, Michael." Sara replies with just as much conviction, as she buries her head even deeper into his neck and squeezes him back just as tight. "And don't worry. You are smart, you would survive well on your own too, even despite your brothers bad cooking," she adds playfully.

For today, everything is right and they both know that together they will be able to get through anything life throws their way.

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End file.
